The All-Powerful Hotel Room Remote Control: Helpful Or Just Confusing?

We like to test out all (and we do mean all) the features of our room when we check in. Buttons, panels, gadgets: we have a hard time keeping our hands off that stuff. But whether those features are actually useful? That's a separate question.

Like when you've got a master remote (pictured) that supposedly controls different parts of the room—lights, curtains, maid service. Sounds good in theory, except each time you press the buttons, something different happens. No, we didn't want the curtains to close! Wait—why are all the lights turning off?

We get that hotels want to be all technologically up-to-date, but this might be a case of 'don't fix what isn't broken.'

There comes a point where too many buttons can become confusing. On many occasions we've noticed multiple buttons that do the same thing. Or worse yet, the same buttons that do different things depending on the order in which they're pressed. (No, we didn't want to close the curtains, we just wanted to turn off one ceiling light!)

Of course, the problem we just mentioned tends to happen with large panels of buttons installed next to the bed. In which case, maybe the consolidated design of the master remote does end up being of use?

We want to hear you weight in: Bring on the omni-remotes, or just let a light switch be a light switch? Drop a comment below and let us know about your experience with guest room remote controls!

[Photo: HotelChatter]

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Comment (1)

That one looks fairly easy to work

The touch-screen ones are the ones that give me a headache. And no matter what, I still prefer to turn off the nightstand lamp myself. I also like it when hotels label their light switches instead of giving you a master remote. So lo-fi but much easier to work!